Hafeez backs 'strongest attack in the world'

[Switchblade]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/current/story/508153.html Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan allrounder, has backed his team to come up trumps in the World Cup semi-final against India, who, he claimed, would be up against the "strongest bowling attack in the world". Pakistan's bowlers, led by Shahid Afridi, the tournament's highest wicket-taker, have set up wins for their team in six of their seven games so far in the World Cup. "We believe that we have the strongest bowling attack in the world at the moment," Hafeez said. "That is the key. Our bowling is our strength and our batsmen are just supporting them in whatever way is required." Hafeez, who bowls offspin, opened the bowling in Pakistan's quarter-final win against West Indies and is part of an attack that has shaped up to be among the most threatening this tournament. Umar Gul had been successful in the late overs, Afridi's variations have proved difficult to deal with, left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz and left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman have chipped in while Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Razzaq have also been effective. Shoaib Akhtar, who will retire from international cricket after the World Cup, is also waiting his turn in the knockouts. "At the moment, we definitely rely on our bowling but we know we are capable enough as batsmen to achieve any total," Hafeez said. Pakistan restricted Sri Lanka in their chase to 266, faltered against New Zealand in their only defeat thus far in the competition, and stepped up against Australia and West Indies to bowl both of them out for under 200. The surface in Mohali, the venue for the semi-final, has traditionally been favourable for fast bowling, though Hafeez said Pakistan were prepared for anything. "We really don't care about the pitch; whatever it will be, we are good enough to perform to the best of our ability." Pakistan haven't played in India since 2007 and the build-up to this high-profile clash has been massive. "For me this is the best cricketing opportunity as an individual player, to perform in such a pressure game, the semi-final of a World Cup and especially Pakistan-India." Pakistan have played India on four occasions in World Cups and have been beaten each time. History, though, mattered little to Hafeez. "Yes, Pakistan has not defeated India in the World Cup, but in the last 12 years, Australia also had not lost a single World Cup game. But then they lost to us (by four wickets) and to India. "There is no point thinking about the past. We think about the day; whoever the opponent is, we try to win on the day."

[amachq]

Hafeez............ Man what you Did ??? Get ready for some Bashing.

[zen]

Won't be surprised to see Pak team getting depressed on Wednesday :giggle: And then knives being drawn out against each other :P

[NareshK]

Strongest attack in the world ? Boy, these guys are delusional to the max. Who in their attack is even remotely world class ? I can understand if they say we are confident about our bowling but they are the strongest in the world, with the likes of Abdur Razzaq, Hafeez and Abdul Rehman ? Who are these guys kidding ? It will be great to see these guys getting a sound reality check about their 'strongest attack' in the world on 30th.:haha:

[Sir_Afridi]

Strongest bowling attack vs strongest batting attack.

[Switchblade]

Strongest bowling attack vs strongest batting attack.

:bow:

[The Outsider]

I see a lot of long term potential for this thread.

[NareshK]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/current/story/508153.html Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan allrounder, has backed his team to come up trumps in the World Cup semi-final against India, who, he claimed, would be up against the "strongest bowling attack in the world". Pakistan's bowlers, led by Shahid Afridi, the tournament's highest wicket-taker, have set up wins for their team in six of their seven games so far in the World Cup. "We believe that we have the strongest bowling attack in the world at the moment," Hafeez said. "That is the key. Our bowling is our strength and our batsmen are just supporting them in whatever way is required." Hafeez, who bowls offspin, opened the bowling in Pakistan's quarter-final win against West Indies and is part of an attack that has shaped up to be among the most threatening this tournament. Umar Gul had been successful in the late overs, Afridi's variations have proved difficult to deal with, left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz and left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman have chipped in while Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Razzaq have also been effective. Shoaib Akhtar, who will retire from international cricket after the World Cup, is also waiting his turn in the knockouts. "At the moment, we definitely rely on our bowling but we know we are capable enough as batsmen to achieve any total," Hafeez said. Pakistan restricted Sri Lanka in their chase to 266, faltered against New Zealand in their only defeat thus far in the competition, and stepped up against Australia and West Indies to bowl both of them out for under 200. The surface in Mohali, the venue for the semi-final, has traditionally been favourable for fast bowling, though Hafeez said Pakistan were prepared for anything. "We really don't care about the pitch; whatever it will be, we are good enough to perform to the best of our ability." Pakistan haven't played in India since 2007 and the build-up to this high-profile clash has been massive. "For me this is the best cricketing opportunity as an individual player, to perform in such a pressure game, the semi-final of a World Cup and especially Pakistan-India." Pakistan have played India on four occasions in World Cups and have been beaten each time. History, though, mattered little to Hafeez. "Yes, Pakistan has not defeated India in the World Cup, but in the last 12 years, Australia also had not lost a single World Cup game. But then they lost to us (by four wickets) and to India. "There is no point thinking about the past. We think about the day; whoever the opponent is, we try to win on the day."

Its 6 times if you take into account 2007 T20 World cup when India beat them twice. So India should make it 7-0. :--D

[True Cric Lover]

Not sure about best bowling attack in the world but yes if you talk about Indian bowling vs. Pakistani bowling then yes.

[Zelig]

His nickname is "Prof" :hehe: PS: There is a certain Prof amongst us :secret:

[zen]

Its 6 times if you take into account 2007 T20 World cup when India beat them twice. So India should make it 7-0. :--D

Lucky 7 :woot:

[Prakat]

awesome. just four more days and all these threads will be tied up into a nice big whip.

[b555]

I see a lot of long term potential for this thread.

:hysterical:

[Clarke]

The great bowling powerhouse has ended up dropping their phasstest bowler and relies on slow fuddu spinners and despite that is the strongest attack in the world :hmmmm2:

[riya]

I think Pak are planning to put Akhtar as a surprising element in semi final.Mark my words Akhtar will play in the semi final.

[Ranjha]

I think Pak are planning to put Akhtar as a surprising element in semi final.Mark my words Akhtar will play in the semi final.

Its 50-50 still..Afridi and team management dont want too but pressure from outside

[Chalks]

This thread should be merged with the "Balling paawaahaus" thread.

[yoda]

Well, to keep it real, in this tournament, their bowling has done very well. They and SL together clearly have the top 2 bowling units. That said, our batting should be able to take on either of these two, especially with Raina in the squad we bat pretty deep.

[jf1gp_1]

they have better bowling line up and we have better batsman so its or bowlers vs their batsman that will determine the outcome of the game. They can make a mockery of our bowlers yet fully capable of handing their wickets on a silver platter to our bowlers.. lets see how it goes

[King]

This is pretty good for India, Pakistan players going out there and making statements left, right and center. I guess their focus is being shifted from getting ready mentally and physically for the game to finding their confidence by going out and giving statements such as these. "Tendulkar" needs to wait, ours is the best bowling attack blah blah blah means ziltch. Aus, SA kept saying the pressure is on the other team, guess what happened? They crumbled under pressure. These haven't still learnt from the likes of Tendulkar, talk less do more.